“It is our responsibility to use marijuana to change the world”

Autoflowering marijuana plants have revolutionised the cannabis scene in recent years. These strains have a much shorter growth and flowering period than normal plants. Some take as little as sixty days from seed to bud. Moreover, they do not depend on the reduction of the photoperiod to start flowering. They are ideal for limited spaces due to their small size, and adverse climates because of their short growth and flowering cycle. Currently, almost all seed banks, Dinafem included of course, sell them in their catalogues but the first person that developed them was the Canadian breeder, The Joint Doctor. Who is this guy? 

The Joint Doctor was among the first people to experiment with them and the first to market them, creating the famous Lowryder. This plant comes from a subspecies native to Siberia called Ruderalis. The JD got some seeds through a friend from a quick-growing dwarf plant call Mexican Rudy – a cross between Ruderalis and Mexican grass, according to his speculations.

He grew the Mexican Rudy in Canada but the production was limited, the taste was bad and the size was ridiculous. Then he crossed it with a Northern Lights #2 female and later on, with a clone of William's Wonder. The next generations of this hybrid kept the autoflowering characteristic and after a rigorous selection, Lowryder was created, with better taste, better production and more potency. From there, he developed Lowryder #2, Easy Ryder, Chronic Ryder, Purple Ryder, Ogre and Diesel Ryder. All of them are available in the Dinafem catalogue.

Lowryder #2 / Joint Doctor

For The Joint Doctor, growing is in the family. From an early age he lived on an organic farm where one of his daily chores was taking care of his dad's marijuana plants. According to him, his father never talked badly about marijuana, but rather about the laws on it. The JD started planting his own cuttings and experimenting a bit. At 17, he smoked his first joint with his father or so he says; and in his last year in high school, he already flaunted having the best marijuana in town. This was still a handful of years before he started focusing on autoflowering cannabis.

And he was not the only one. He and other seed banks worked hard to make autoflowering cannabis similar to the harvests of normal plants, maintaining their accelerated growth and flowering process. At Dinafem, for example, we have Critical + 2.0 auto in the catalogue, which reaches a height of almost 130cm and a production of 250gm in hydroponic growing. The original Ruderalis is way behind; just as behind as a bonsai.

Critical + 2.0 Auto. Photo from Dinafem

In a conversation we recently had, he told us about a project he did with 'Skunk Magazine': growing 30 different kinds of autoflowering cannabis developed by his competitors. According to him, it was a fun and productive experience because it let him gather a lot of information and verify the progress made by other seed banks. In the end, he confirmed that his strains were still on beat, in addition to acknowledging that we were doing great work at Dinafem. In fact, he told us that our autoflowering seeds "stood out against the competition".

The Canadian breeder, considered the father of these seeds, is not bothered by others developing them. According to him, "Competition keeps you on your toes. You can't sit on the laurels of your one achievement and expect to be a superstar forever. One thing you have to remember in plant breeding: nothing is truly created. You are not God: you are just along for a short ride. Originally, I got my seeds from somewhere too. So I have to give thanks to many friends and associates who've helped me out and made this possible. But I feel honoured to have left my mark". 

The JD watering his huge plants like someone watering their lawn to relax after a hard day's work.

Asking why he was so attracted to growing marijuana, he said that it was the most useful plant he knows. "As one of the first plants we domesticated, humans have developed a special relationship with it, with its properties and its chemistry. It is found in countless cultures for its medicinal properties and has the potential to awaken your conscious. It is our responsibility to use it to change the world, to learn to use it".

Crossing marijuana subspecies is not playing God but it has infinite possibilities. The Joint Doctor is happy with the level of stability of his creations; however, he ensures that stability in marijuana growing is never 100% satisfied. "If I were one hundred percent satisfied, I might as well go back to growing peppers. I don't see an end when it comes to breeding, and there are so many possibilities and it may be that we are just beginning to scratch the surface in certain areas. Imagine a variety that is resistant to low temperatures or little light; imagine a multipurpose medicinal strain with plenty of seeds or a medicinal one that looks like parsley, doesn't get you high, but relieves your pain? These are just some of the projects I am interested in, but there's a lot of work to do. I will probably be doing this the rest of life".